A GOSSIP columnist in Australia, who was rebuked by Rosmah Mansor for reporting on her lavish shopping in spree in Sydney in 2012, is now having the last laugh now that her hoard of luxury has been revealed by the police. 

Andrew Hornery, who writes the Private Sydney column for the Sydney Morning Herald, said “all hell broke loose”  when his story on Rosmah’s large shopping bill reached Malaysia.

He put the total figure of Rosmah’s spending at A$6 billion over the years. 

Among the items he said Rosmah bought in Sydney were A$100,000 worth of clothes from local designer Carl Kapp. 

Rosmah “was so impressed with his (Kapp’s) designs he later visited her and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in their luxury, A$20,000-a-night penthouse suite at the then new The Darling hotel atop Star Casino,” said Hornery.

He said Najib greeted Kapp in his bathrobe and paid everything in cash.

Rosmah was also believed to have picked up half a dozen Christian Dior handbags at the Sydney department store David Jones.

He said other news organisations reported that Rosmah spent about US$400,000 on anti-ageing products, including 1590 bottles of growth hormone capsules.

Hornery said Rosmah claimed the details of the shopping spree were “wildly” exaggerated and that she bought the large number of gowns because she was supplying a boutique in Malaysia. 

The columnist said blogger and social media supporters of Najib and Rosmah launched a concerted campaign to discredit him. 

“In 24 hours, my Twitter followers swelled by nearly 6000 people, all from Malaysia, and not all of them fans.

“Before long I had been called by the Foreign Affairs office in Canberra. The situation quickly escalated to an international diplomatic incident, though it eventually blew over in a few weeks.”

He said in the six years since, he feared setting foot in Malaysia as long as Rosmah was Najib’s wife. 

Najib and Rosmah have been barred from leaving the country as police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigate the flow of millions of ringgit linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd into their personal accounts. – May 27, 2018.